The Plus Sign
by TMBlue
Summary: COMPLETE! Harry is the Spello-tape that held Ron and Hermione together through the years. Written for the lovely shocolate.


_**A/N:** Quick **WARNING** to all my regular readers... this story could be called **Ron/Harry** on top of the usual **Ron/Hermione**. Consider yourself alerted._

_This story was written for my wonderful **shocolate**, the queen of perfect Ron/Harry AND Ron/Hermione banter! I hope you enjoy it! xx  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>The Plus Sign<strong>  
><strong>...for shocolate<strong>

"Admit it _could _have never happened," Hermione demanded, hands on her hips and left eyebrow arched, wrinkling her forehead as she waited for Ron's response.

He huffed.

"But... but... that's not fair!" he spluttered, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Of course it is," she said coolly, removing her hands from her waist to cross her arms over her chest now. "You just don't like to think about it."

"Well, of course I bloody well don't! Why would I?" he asked, shuddering slightly. "Just because you go off studying about the _science _behind coincidence and chance or whatever the bloody hell... So I've gotta think what my life would be like if we'd never met?"

"It's because of Harry, you know. He's why _we're_ together," Hermione said evenly, eyebrows back down to their usual at-rest position as she watched Ron shake his head.

"No, it's because of the _troll_."

"Well," Hermione said, both eyebrows leaping up this time, "if you're going to go back to _that_, you might as well have said it's because you made fun of me!"

"I _could _have said that," Ron shrugged, scratching the back of his neck, "but it seemed a bit... ironic?"

"Maybe." She glared at him playfully, as if still harbouring some deep annoyance at his nearly seven year old insults.

"You know," Ron continued, suddenly grinning, "it's really because _your _parents and _my _parents shagged six months apart, putting us in the same year at Hogwarts."

"Ron!" Hermione laughed, eyes wide. "Don't be disgusting."

"What?" and he lifted a foot to tap her shin lightly, his skin contacting hers where his big toe poked through a rather large hole in his knitted wool sock.

"Okay, so we went to Hogwarts together. We got sorted into the same house. And then you saved me from the troll. But that _still _doesn't mean we would have lasted without Harry!" Hermione's hands were back on her hips, and Ron bit his lip, grin emerging through anyway.

"You really think I only stuck around because Harry was there to... keep us together?"

"It's entirely possible that none of the things that happened _would _have happened without Harry. That's what I'm saying. The Sorcerer's Stone? Well, if Harry had died as a baby, maybe Voldemort would have succeeded the first time round and... well, you know, maybe we would have never even been _born_..."

Ron suddenly felt dizzy, and he shook his head to stop her from continuing.

"Okay, okay. I get it. Harry's our plus sign."

Hermione blinked at him.

"He's our _what_?"

"You know. He's... in the middle." Ron licked his lips as he shrugged again, and he watched with glee as Hermione's eyes flicked down hungrily to follow his tongue's movement.

"Well, now that you see what I'm saying," Hermione began, voice a bit lower than before, "are you admitting it?"

Ron huffed again.

"Oh, go on," Hermione sighed, rolling her eyes. And all of Ron's hopeful possibilities of stripping off her work clothes and spreading her across the sofa suddenly vanished as she ran her fingers through her hair to make sure it was in its proper place. "You know it's true."

"Well, but I'm not going to think about it."

"It's not so bad, Ron," Hermione said as she picked up her flat key and twirled it between her fingers before dropping it into her bag. "_You_ love Harry."

"Well, yeah."

"_I_ love Harry."

"Yeah... _well_..."

"And because of that... _I _love _you_."

Ron licked his lips again and was disappointed to find Hermione already straightening up to Disapparate for work.

"Speaking of our best friend, have a nice time with h-"

But Ron looped an arm around her waist and kissed her dramatically, air rushing into her lungs as she gasped, eyes wide. But then her eyes flickered shut and she sighed, melting for a moment against his chest.

"Alright, you win," Ron said as he pulled back from her... much too soon. "I'll thank him for _that_."

Hermione grinned as she stepped backwards out of his arms, eyes locked with his until the last moment... when she turned on the spot, and vanished.

* * *

><p>"Harry, are you serious?" Ron asked, wrinkling his nose.<p>

Harry shrugged and stretched his arm up towards a large book on a shelf just out of his reach. Ron rolled his eyes and snatched the book from the shelf with ease, handing it to Harry who muttered a 'thanks' before flipping it open to some seemingly random page near the middle.

"Are you hearing me?" Ron continued, shifting his weight from foot to foot impatiently.

"Thought you'd gotten used to the Ministry library with Hermione for a girlfriend," Harry teased, the corner of his mouth twitching, eyes still focused down on the tiny text spread from edge to edge of the worn pages of the volume laid out across his forearms.

"Well, I have," said Ron, "but you're _Harry_, not Hermione."

But Harry remained glued to the book in his arms, and Ron gawked at him.

"What the fuck are we doing here? !"

Harry looked up, raised his eyebrows, and glanced around Ron towards the full tables of witches and wizards in the main reading area beyond.

"Language," Harry tutted.

Ron's jaw dropped.

"What. are. you. doing? !" he demanded.

But Harry just straightened his glasses and closed his book with a thud, scanning the shelves for something else.

Ron leaned in very close to Harry, close enough to study the lines on the left side of his face, every curve and detail.

"Hermione?" he questioned finally, voice dropped very low.

Harry snorted.

"Prat."

"Doesn't convince me. She calls me that all the time. You could be Polyjuiced," Ron said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring down at Harry.

"Okay, okay," Harry laughed. "Sorry, mate. Took my Hermione impression too far?"

Ron cringed, nodding.

"I have some research to do for the Auror department and that's why I asked you to meet me here. Thought I'd be finished before you were ready, but the damn books I need are all on the upper shelves and-" Harry paused to glare over towards the main desk at a stern looking elderly woman. "_-she_ doesn't like it when we magic the books down."

"Really?" Ron turned to look over his shoulder at the woman. "I've never had to bother."

"Right. So can you grab the gray one right there?" Harry asked, pointing up towards one of the thickest books Ron had ever seen.

"God, Harry," he said as he slid the book out with both hands and bounced it up and down, weighing it. "How'd you get stuck researching whatever the hell this book is on about?"

Ron flipped the book over, inspecting it for some sign of its contents. But, finding none, he shook his head and handed the book to Harry.

"Short straw, I guess," Harry shrugged. "Almost finished. Just gotta find one more..." and he headed off down between the stacks, deeper and deeper into the maze.

Ron chewed on his lip, hands in his pockets as he followed Harry through the library. It occurred to him suddenly just how right Hermione had been earlier that morning. After all, here was the person who'd been the reason for everything, really.

"Harry, did you know you're our plus sign?" Ron asked, stifling a bored yawn as Harry looked over his shoulder at Ron, eyebrows raised comically above his glasses.

"I'm your _what_?"

"Hermione was saying - and she's right, you know..."

"Yes, always," Harry said pointedly as he stopped walking, searching the shelf to his right.

"Right," Ron grinned, turning a bit hazy as his thoughts lingered on Hermione. But he shook his head and blinked. "She was saying, this morning, that we might not have ended up together, me and her, without you there to..." Ron trailed off.

Harry stopped inspecting the shelf and turned to face Ron directly, looking skeptical.

"I dunno," he said. "Why do I have to be the glue? You've always fancied each other."

"Yeah," Ron said, grin returning, "but maybe we would have never even _met _without you. And anyway, you were always there, in the middle."

"In the middle..." Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't like the way that sounds, like I was in the way of whatever it was that you were trying to get on with..."

"Well, let's face it," said Ron, "you _were _sometimes."

"Bollocks," Harry said, looking apologetic and disappointed.

"Ah," Ron waved him off, "I was in the middle with you and Ginny sometimes, too."

"Ron," Harry laughed, "you were the _minus _sign."

Ron punched Harry's shoulder, glaring playfully at him.

"It's only because I love you, Harry," he grinned, shrugging.

Harry laughed again.

"Don't let Hermione hear you say that."

"She knows that already," Ron said, waving Harry off again. "But you know, why does everyone always tell me not to let someone hear me say things?"

Harry blinked, confused.

"When I told Hermione I loved her in sixth year, she said the same thing about... Lavender."

Harry's eyes widened.

"When you did _what_? !"

"Remember?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow.

Harry shook his head slowly, jaw hanging open.

"Oh, yes you do. We were sitting in the common room, working. We'd just started speaking again, really, me and Hermione. And I wanted to chuck Lavender but I wasn't getting on with it yet."

Harry continued to stare blankly, as if he had just been hit over the head with a club.

"She was fixing my homework for me?" Ron tried, hopefully.

Harry seemed to suddenly pull up a vague memory, and he spluttered around for a moment before speaking...

"You... but _you_... but you _did _say it, didn't you!"

"Yeah, right," Ron said, nodding and shoving his hands into his pockets again. "But you know, it didn't mean what it means when I say it to her now."

"No, I guess not," Harry agreed.

"Otherwise, I'd have never said it. I wasn't _that _brave."

Ron paused, pondering how easy it had been back then, how natural, just to say it to her... when he'd only meant it as a friend. But how had he really distinguished the difference? He'd loved her then. He'd been _in _love with her, too. But he'd _told _her he loved her... and yet...

"Blimey, now that I'm thinking about it, I don't really know what got into me."

"Yeah, how did you actually _say_..." Harry trailed off, shaking his head slightly.

"I guess I just thought it so often that it sort of... slipped out."

But it had taken him months after the war to finally say it again. It had had such weight the second time, and he'd known exactly how he wanted her to take it.

"Funny..." Ron continued, "I mean it differently when I say it to you, too. Different from how it is when I say it to Hermione now... and different from how it was when I told her back in sixth year."

Harry blinked again.

"Ron," Harry began, sounding overwhelmed, "I feel sure that if you'd heard the way you're going on now back when you were in... say, third year?... you would have thought you'd been Confunded. Or love potioned."

"Maybe."

"Sounds to me like you've gone mental," and Harry slowly returned to his book search, looking distracted.

Ron stood watching. And wondering.

"I don't know why it makes sense, but it does," Ron said, willing Harry to understand...

"Whatever you say," Harry shrugged, running his index finger along the spines of the books at his eye level.

"I don't know how else to explain it really."

"I love Ginny, and I love Hermione. Differently. So... you know. Sure," Harry said distantly, reaching the end of one shelf and skipping up to the one above it.

"You should kiss me," Ron said suddenly, and Harry's finger stopped dead against _Modern Charms and Spells, Volume LXXXVII_.

"Wait for me to turn around... and say that one more time with a straight face," Harry requested, and he dropped his hand from the shelf, turned to face Ron, and raised his eyebrows, waiting.

"Go on. Kiss me," Ron said, hovering above Harry.

"Why the _fuck-_"

"Because then you'll see what I'm saying. I'll bet_ I _can kiss _you _right now and we'll still be me and you."

"Well, yes, unless you're planning to jinx me with your lips, I reckon we will be," said Harry, looking quite dumbfounded.

"No, you're not getting it," Ron said, taking the tiniest step closer to Harry. And he had to press his lips together at the look of nervous anticipation that crossed Harry's face as Ron's shadow passed over him. "I'm trying to say," Ron continued, "that we can _snog _and be fine because we're us. I couldn't snog any other bloke in the world and not feel really weird about it... but with you, I dunno. You're Harry. Which isn't a friend or even a best mate, not someone I'm in _love _with-" he wrinkled his nose "-the way I'm in love with Hermione. Not like one of my brothers or Ginny. Not like Mum or Dad or any of our Hogwarts dormmates."

"So... what are we?" Harry asked, looking a bit dazed.

"Dunno. Ron and Harry?" he tried.

Harry grinned.

"Why does that make sense to me?" he asked, clearly understanding everything now.

"Because. You're half of Ron-and-Harry," Ron shrugged.

"So, Hermione's not in this club?"

"Hmmm," Ron began slowly. He hadn't considered her place in all of this, not really. But as he thought about it, he knew what made sense inside his own head. And hopefully, if Harry could read his mind as well as Ron thought he could, he'd get this too... "I think... there's Ron and Hermione, there's Ron and Harry, and then there's Harry-Ron-Hermione."

Harry burst out laughing, covering his mouth at the last minute to stifle it, clearly remembering where they were.

"Wanker! That's exactly what I knew you were going to say."

"Right? Okay!" Ron said triumphantly. "So we understand each other."

"Still want me to snog you?" Harry snorted.

"Whatever."

"You're too tall for this. How does Hermione do it?" Harry asked as he tugged Ron's shirt, bringing him closer. Ron grinned, and before he could respond, Harry's breath puffed out over his mouth. And then he was kissing him.

Ron pressed a hand to the shelf behind Harry, steadying himself as Harry's palms flattened against Ron's chest. He felt Harry's stubble against his own, a bit uncomfortable actually. And he wondered, smiling against Harry's lips, how Hermione could stand it when _she _kissed _him_, why she actually seemed to _love _it.

In fact, she'd told him just this morning... to his delight.

And according to Hermione, it was all because of Harry.

Ron closed his eyes, remembering that he was currently snogging _Harry_... not Hermione... and he tried to focus on it. Mainly, on the fact that this was technically the most bizarre thing he'd ever done. And somehow, it wasn't.

He'd thought it all made sense, but now it was just making him dizzy.

Harry's hands moved to Ron's shoulders and their chests pressed straight together. It was strange, not to feel the swell of Hermione's breasts, a soft cushion against his ribs and sternum. One of Harry's feet slipped between Ron's, trainers knocking together. And their two pairs of lips stacked at a light angle, alternating much the way that their feet now were beneath them.

Finally, breathing calmly through his nose, Ron pulled back, blinking Harry into focus, opening his mouth to say something at the same moment that Harry opened his... but someone else got their first.

"Really?" came Hermione's 'library voice' from a few feet to Ron's left. He jumped, startled, but didn't move back from Harry... who was presently straightening his glasses and looking amused. "So, now you'll take whatever you can get?"

Ron blushed slightly, but smirked at her.

"Oi!" Harry hissed, feigning offense.

"_You_ try snogging Harry," Ron said to Hermione, removing his hand from the shelf and stepping back from Harry finally. "It's just... _Harry_."

"No, thank you," Hermione said, wrinkling her nose is vague disgust. "I'll leave that to you." She raised her eyebrows questioningly. "Should I be jealous?"

"Of course not," Ron said, tossing Harry a glare as if the whole thing had been his fault.

"I'd just appreciate a warning that my boyfriend is currently snogging our best friend down aisle seventy-one before I come marching down that same aisle," she said, staring up into Ron's shining eyes.

"I was proving a point," Ron explained.

"You told him about the plus sign thing?" Hermione unriddled.

"Might have," Ron shrugged. "And then I was trying to explain how we love Harry. It's not the way we love each other. Or the way we love our siblings."

"_Our_?" Hermione grinned. "So now your brothers and sister are mine too?"

"Well, yeah," Ron said, as if the notion was the most obvious thing in the world. Hermione's grin widened. "Oh!" he said suddenly, turning back to face Harry who was watching them both, smirking. "No offense, but Hermione's a way better kisser than you are."

"Oh, thanks!" Harry said sarcastically before adding, "and Ginny's far better than _you_!"

"That's not necessary information," Ron said, glaring at Harry. But Hermione giggled lightly behind him, and his attention was instantly shifted towards her again, Harry completely forgotten.

He grinned lopsidedly down at her, noticing with delight that she held his gaze until she heaved slightly with each breath.

"So... it's not going to turn you off to kiss me after I've kissed Harry?"

Hermione bit her lip, grinning.

"Maybe have a mint first?"

"Oh, God, you two are _hilarious_," Harry drawled, rolling his eyes as he jumped up to reach the book he'd finally found, trainers landing with a thud again as he missed his target, sighing.

Ron only had to lean slightly back and lift his arm vaguely to reach the book in question. He plucked it from the shelf and tossed it at Harry, who caught it with an 'oomph'.

"Now, as lovely as it was to snog your boyfriend," Harry said after he'd recovered, "I'll be leaving that to you from now on. I prefer smooth skin... none of that stubbly nonsense."

Hermione bit her lip.

"Yeah, I'm not so much a fan of that," Ron concurred, but Hermione shoved him.

"Don't say that. It's wonderful."

"Mental," Ron teased, absentmindedly picking up Hermione's hand and playing with her fingers. "What are the chances you can skive and come to lunch with us?" Ron asked her hopefully.

"Not likely," Hermione said with a disappointed grimace. "I'm sorry. I've only got a quarter of an hour to find the books I'm after before my next meeting."

"Quarter of an hour..." Ron trailed off, a list of possible quarter-of-an-hour activities flashing through his mind. "Harry, shove off for a bit, will you?"

"Ron..." Hermione reprimanded, but it wasn't a very serious reprimand. In fact, he recognized this type of reprimand... and he knew it was simply a paper thin wall for him to gently kick down.

"See, now it all makes sense. All that rubbish about you loving me. You just wanted a snog and Hermione wasn't around," Harry teased, smirking again.

"Go over there, Harry," Ron said distractedly, pointing vaguely away from them as Hermione ignored the pair of them to stretch up above her head, reaching for a book that Ron wasn't quite ready to help her take down... His eyes traveled slowly along the curves of her body, completely shameless about the fact that they were currently in a public place.

And did he have Harry to thank for this, too? Did he need to thank Harry for the fact that he was allowed to notice? Did he need to thank Harry for the fact that she _saw _him noticing and smirked though she would never look at him, never give him the satisfaction of _knowing _that she knew exactly what she was doing to him?

Well.

He supposed that he did.

Harry smacked the back of Ron's head, knocking him out of his trance. And he disappeared around a distant corner... Leaving Ron alone with Hermione. Very deeply buried in the dustiest, most deserted section of the library. The smell of ancient parchment and leather mingled with the scent of Hermione's fresh shampoo, and Ron felt his knees go a bit slack as he finally helped her reach the book she'd been straining for, unwilling to ask him for assistance.

"Thank you," she said, lowering her heels back to the floor and straightening out her blouse as he handed her the book.

"You really don't mind about the... _you know_... with Harry?"

"Ron, I know you aren't in love with Harry," Hermione tutted, raising her eyes to meet his as she hugged her dusty book to her chest.

"But... maybe I need to prove it?" he asked, and she paused, confused for a moment before catching sight of the innuendo buried in a shallow ditch beneath his offer.

She sighed, but it wasn't quite a frustrated sigh, and Ron knew he'd already won her over.

"Be careful," he said as she slid her book into her bag and stepped closer to him. "One more step and I can't promise I'll be able to let you go."

She took another step.

"Hermione..."

But just as he was leaning down to kiss her, she tossed a spell over her shoulder and Ron pulled up far enough to raise his eyebrows down at her, aghast.

"Did you just charm the _library_ so no one can walk up on us? !" he whispered furiously.

"Shut up," she breathed, looping her arms around his neck.

He grinned broadly as he lowered his mouth to hers, closing his eyes. But then her lips suddenly weren't where he expected them to be and he was half-kissing air... so he opened his eyes again, confused.

"Can I tell you a secret?" she whispered, biting her lip.

"Any time," said Ron, excitement bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

"I liked it."

"Liked what?" Ron asked, shaking his head slightly.

"Watching you. And Harry. Kissing."

Ron's eyebrows leapt up under his fringe.

"You _what_? !"

Hermione's cheeks reddened and she shrugged, arms still around Ron's neck.

"When I kiss you, I don't get to see you properly..." she explained, and he could feel her heart beating frantically inside her chest as she pressed her body more firmly against his. "But with Harry, I could see your jaw... and your lips... and your nose... and your hands..."

Ron tried to think of a single thing to say, but nothing that made any sense came to mind as he stared down at her...

"It just... gave me an idea..." she said slowly, biting her lip again.

"Don't tell me you want me to snog Harry and let you watch before we-"

"No! Don't be silly," she tutted, and Ron grinned at her, a bit relieved. "But... I think we should... use a Pensieve sometime to... watch ourselves..."

Ron's body turned very instantly to jelly.

"Why... the ruddy _hell_... have I never though of that before?" he said, breath very shallow all of a sudden.

Hermione blushed deeper and simply stared up at him, eyes glowing in the low lantern light.

"You win. That's the hottest idea either of us has ever had," Ron sighed.

"Glad you approve," Hermione laughed, tugging him down towards her. And he went very willingly, lips sliding against hers in such a wonderfully familiar way.

Well.

He could add yet another thing to the list. At this rate, he'd be thanking Harry until the day he died.


End file.
